NBA rookies who went from small time to big time

As if there had been any doubt before he demolished the Spurs in the worst home loss in Tim Duncan’s 16 seasons, Portland’s Damian Lillard has turned this season’s Rookie of the Year race into a one-man contest. Leading all first-year players in scoring (18.8 ppg) and assists (6.4 apg), he has lapped the field among his peers.

It is especially notable that Lillard, who played at Weber State, is about to become the first Rookie of the Year from a “mid-major” college since Larry Bird won the award out of Indiana State in 1979-80.

(In case you’re wondering, former Spur Terry Cummings was the 1982-83 winner out of DePaul after his first season with the San Diego Rockets, but DePaul was a power that later moved into the Big East.)

Except for three consecutive seasons when the award went to players who did not play college ball (2002-04), it has rarely has gone to a player that didn’t come from a major college.

Express-News NBA writer Mike Monroe examines the history of the league’s top rookies from mid-major and smaller schools.